A vehicle “consist” is a group of two or more vehicles that are coupled or linked together to travel along a route. The vehicles may be logically linked (e.g., coordinated wireless control), or they may be mechanically linked by way of couplers, hitches, or the like. In certain vehicle consists, it may be the case that the vehicles are coupled in different orientations, that is, the vehicles are oriented differently from one another such that they face different directions. Especially in cases where the vehicles are configured to operate bi-directionally (e.g., forwards and backwards), it may be necessary to determine how the vehicles are oriented, prior to the consist moving, to avoid situations (for example) where one vehicle is motoring in one direction and a linked vehicle is motoring in the opposite direction.
As one example, in a consist of locomotives or other rail vehicles, control inputs of a control subsystem of the consist (e.g., distributed power control) may include the respective orientations of the rail vehicles in the consist relative to a lead vehicle of the consist and/or a direction of travel of the consist. In a rail context, such orientations may include “short hood forward” (e.g., operator cab or front end of the vehicle is facing the lead vehicle and/or direction of travel) or “long hood forward” (e.g., operator cab or front end of the vehicle is facing away from the lead vehicle or direction of travel). Further information about rail vehicle orientation, and control schemes relating thereto, are found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,523, issued Dec. 3, 2002, and in U.S. Publication No. 2009/0248226, dated Oct. 1, 2009, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Existing systems for determining vehicle orientation involve either manual data entry (e.g., an operator determining the orientation of each vehicle and entering data into a control subsystem) or complex signaling or communication schemes. The former is time consuming and prone to error, and the latter may add significant complexity and cost to a vehicle. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a vehicle, system, and method of vehicle control that differ from existing systems and methods.